


Discovered

by Hellokaelyn



Series: Fictober 2019 [30]
Category: NCIS
Genre: F/M, Fictober
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-31
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2021-01-15 16:44:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21256445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hellokaelyn/pseuds/Hellokaelyn
Summary: Family is more than the same blood running through your veins or shared DNA. Family can form and grow even when you least expect it.





	Discovered

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry for not posting this yesterday but hey that means you get two today!
> 
> Sequel to Discovery
> 
> Prompt: "I'm with you, you know that."

After a month it was finally time.  
  
Nick stood by the car and stared up at the house, the big mansion-like house, with a nervous tug in his stomach. He was rarely ever nervous, but apparently this warranted being one of those times.  
  
Thankfully, he wasn't alone. He turned to look at Ellie who was staring at the house in wonder.  
  
"Wow, makes you wonder what Anna does for a job because this is nothing you can afford with a regular paying job."  
  
Nick nodded before sighing. "We should go ring the bell."  
  
"Hey.." Ellie said softly, slipping her hand into his. "I'm with you, you know that."  
  
"Thank you." He mumbled, kissing her softly before they began walking to the front door.  
  
He held his breath waiting for the door to open, his hand gripping Ellie's tightly. When the door opened, he slowly let it out.  
  
Anna stood there smiling, and Nick felt that nervous feeling in his stomach lessen.  
  
"Nicholas?" She asked, smile becoming softer.  
  
"Uh yeah that's me, but Nick, please." Nick quickly said before looking in Ellie's direction. "And this is my girlfriend Ellie."  
  
Ellie smiled, reaching out to shake Anna's hand. Nick felt a giddy feeling in that second as he said the words..the first time he ever called her his _girlfriend_. "I hope it's okay he brought me along."  
  
"Oh of course!" Anna moved aside gesturing for them to come in. "Come in come in! It's understandable, I wouldn't have wanted to come alone either."  
  
Nick and Ellie both stared a little bewildered at the inside as Anna led the way down a small hall before it opened into a wide but homey space. A spiral staircase led upstairs, large patio doors were at the other end, and there were three wide doorways with two closed doors almost hidden by the staircase.  
  
"Claire, Todd and Jayden are out in the back." Anna continued towards the sliding patio doors. "Jayden is really excited to meet you."  
  
"He uh..knows?"  
  
"Knows enough..mostly that he just has an uncle-" Anna quickly turned around. "I mean that's if you-"  
  
"It's fine." He said quickly. "I'm excited to meet the little guy too."  
  
Anna let out a breath. "That's good..because here he comes-"  
  
Nick barely had time to prepare as seconds after he walked through the patio doors, a small body came running towards him and collided with his legs. "Hi!"  
  
With a chuckle he bent down when the young boy pulled away, looking at Nick with a large toothy grin and dirt on his nose. "Hey there buddy." Nick grinned back. "So you must be superman!"  
  
Jayden giggled. "No silly! Superman is a big guy!"  
  
"Huh really? 'Cause I heard there was a superhero here."  
  
"Nu-huh! My name's Jayden!" Jayden put his hands on his hips.  
  
"Well then Jayden, I'm Nick."  
  
He nodded enthusiastically, looking an awful like a bobble head. "My uncle!" Jayden leaped at Nick, colliding with him once more. "Does that mean you'll play catch with me and daddy?!"  
  
Nick had to swallow down the lump rising in his throat. He had missed a lot of Amanda's younger years..he missed a lot with her in general, but Jayden reminded him a lot of Amanda when he did see her when she was younger. There was also the image of one day it being like this with his son, but he forced that thought back, now wasn't the time for that. He had only just realized he wanted a family of his own not even a year ago afterall.  
  
"Hey Jayden honey-" Anna quickly interrupted. "Why don't you go play at your treehouse and one of us will join you in a second."  
  
Jayden sighed with a pout but nodded, running off to the professional looking tree house in the corner of the yard.  
  
"So you're Nick."  
  
He sucked in a sharp breath. Claire stepped in front of him, looking as if she was studying him while Nick did the same.  
  
"And you're Claire."  
  
Her lips turned upwards. "You know..I always wanted a big brother."  
  
Anna snorted. "That's true, she always wrote 'Santa' at least ten letters begging for an older brother."  
  
"Mom!" Claire playfully glared, but Anna only shrugged with a small grin. "Anyways, it really is nice to meet you, I'm just sorry it turned out this way."  
  
Nick smiled and nodded. "Same here." He pulled on Ellie's hand that he had grabbed hold of again. "This is Ellie, my girlfriend."  
  
Claire grinned and motioned towards the man beside her. "This is Todd, my usually quiet and may I say boring husband."  
  
Todd rolled his eyes. "Ignore her, not everyone can be energetic and loud like her."  
  
Nick shook Todd's hand chuckling.  
  
"Daddy!" Was shouted from the treehouse.  
  
Todd laughed. "And that's my cue. We'll talk later Nick."  
  
"Okay!" Claire clapped her hands. "I demand to spend time with this beautiful woman you brought!" She grabbed Ellie's other hand, pulling her away from Nick. Ellie made a noise of surprise, her eyes widening a little but she quickly turned amused.  
  
"Hey!" Nick huffed. "We just met and you're already stealing my girlfriend!"  
  
"Damn straight I am! How else will I get the gossip on you?"  
  
Ellie laughed loudly as Claire pulled her away, looking back at Nick and mouthing 'sorry'. He rolled his eyes but grinned.  
  
"Well..seeing as we were ditched, how about we sit for a bit and talk?" Anna asked, looking a bit hesitant. "You don't have to, but I figured there were still things you wanted to know and I know Alejandro probably left things out."  
  
Nick fidgeted with his fingers slightly and nodded. Anna moved to sit at the patio table near them, Nick looked at Ellie who was already deep in conversation with Claire, both of them sitting on the chairs by the decent sized pool that was off to the side that Nick hadn't even noticed till now.  
  
"I was wondering though, does your sister know yet?"  
  
Nick sighed and nodded. "She uh, just got back from vacation in Italy with my niece Amanda..she's..taking longer to process this."  
  
Anna frowned but nodded. "I understand, it's out of the blue and probably a little strange."  
  
"She'll come around, Lucia was always the more level headed and calm one. She's just been having a hard time since her husband died three years ago." Nick cleared his throat as he pushed down the emotions wanting to rise. Lucia was doing much better, Amanda too, but Lucia and George were that high school sweethearts couple you only thought existed in movies, George was all she knew for so long.  
  
"Oh I'm sorry." Anna reached over and put her hand on top of his. Nick just barely kept himself from flinching away, he instead forced himself to relax, Anna wasn't doing anything wrong. "That's terrible, really she can take as much time as she wants and if she wants nothing to do with us that's okay too."  
  
Nick decided to quickly change the subject. Ellie was the only person he felt really comfortable enough talking to about Lucia and all of it.  
  
"If it's alright to ask..why did you and my dad get a divorce?"  
  
Anna waved away his concern. "I was only twenty one when we met..I'd never even been in love before, and thought with Alejandro that it was love. Eventually I began to realize that it was only infatuation and the want for love, I stayed with him for Claire's sake but Alejandro had noticed I was only going through the motions and neither of us were truly happy."  
  
He nodded, taking a glance at Claire. She and Ellie were now joined by Todd and Jayden, the little boy having a blast climbing all over Ellie who was laughing. Nick's heart warmed at the sight, but there was the hurt still there when his eyes shifted back to Claire. She had grown up with their dad in her life, and he'd never admit it to anyone but Ellie, but he was jealous of that. Why wasn't he good enough to stick around for? Were he and Lucia that disposable to him?  
  
"So you really had no idea about my mom?" He asked, shaking off the thoughts.  
  
"No, not until he told me." "I felt..like such an idiot when he did, to not have noticed or seen anything. I was more furious than hurt, I was so angry that he could just leave two of his children behind and not even look back, that he could do that to Marissa-"  
  
Nick froze at her tone. A tone when she said his mom's name like- "You knew my mom?"  
  
"I did..years ago, before she and your dad even met." Anna smiled sadly, looking as if she was a little lost in her thoughts. "Marissa was my older sisters best friend when I was growing up, she was almost like another sister to me for years until she and my sister lost contact when they went to separate colleges." Anna's smile turned happy, like she was reminiscing. "I remember how kind she was, all she wanted to do in life was to help people..even dreamed of becoming a police officer."  
  
Nick blinked at her and for a second wondered if they were talking about the same woman. While his mom was kind, even he knew she changed a lot after his dad left. Closed off, easier to anger, her laughter that once filled the house was barely heard, and she was absent a lot from working.  
  
And her wanting to become a police officer? His mom sounded like a completely different person back then.  
  
"My mom wanted to be in law enforcement?" He asked in shock.  
  
"She did, it was all she wanted to do for years..and from what I heard, you caught that law enforcement bug too."  
  
Nick chuckle slightly. "Yeah..except instead of a police officer I became a federal agent." It seemed a lot more had changed with his mom then he thought "Your sister you said.."  
  
Anna's face brightened as she laughed lightly. "I have a whole clan of family you can say. My parents had plenty of siblings between them, and had four kids themselves." Once again she reached across and put her hand over his, this time there was no flinch. "You know..you may not be my son and Lucia may not be my daughter and god knows I'm not looking to replace Marissa which would be ridiculous considering you're both adults, but both of you can be a part of this whole crazy family if you would like, you're Claire's siblings no matter half or not..and we don't take that lightly."  
  
"...Even though I'm not your son?" Nick said it quietly, vulnerability showing clear on his face for the first time since arriving.  
  
"Oh hun.." Anna said softly, squeezing his hand. "When it comes to family, blood has nothing to do with it."  
  
He nodded, lips lifting into a smile. He knew exactly how that went. His team weren't related to him by blood, but they had become his family.  
  
"Now!" Anna said loudly, pulling her hand away. "Enough with the sad stuff for now, how long have you and Ellie been dating?"  
  
Immediately a smile spread across his face. "Officially only a month, but we work together and I've known her for three years."  
  
Anna grinned. "How about we go inside and eat some of the sweets I baked this morning, and you tell me all about you two, because she has to be someone special if just talking about her for two seconds puts that big of a smile on your face."  
  
"I would say yes but..Ellie will actually kill me in my sleep if I eat some before her." He laughed. "She loves her food, especially sweets and junk food."  
  
With a laugh of her own, Anna turned and called out. "Hey you four! Nick and I are going to go eat some of the sweets I baked so either stay out here and miss out or join us!"  
  
Both he and Anna snorted in amusement as they all jumped up, rushing towards them. Todd went ahead with Anna while Jayden and Ellie raced after them, Ellie playfully teasing him about getting to the sweets first as she lifted Jayden sideways into her arms, his loud giggling echoing through the house.  
  
Claire walked along beside him, casually throwing her arm around his shoulders. "So big bro, you gonna stick around to meet the rest of the crazy ass family?"  
  
Nick looked at Ellie. As if sensing his stare she looked up. She looked happy, having already fit herself in perfectly with them. Ellie gave him a wink. She knew from the start this was what he wanted, but seeing her with them only sealed the deal.

* * *

  
  
Later that night Nick laid in bed staring at the ceiling. Ellie was curled against him, fingers laced with his arm that was around her. Her head rested on his chest and her eyes were closed but he knew she wasn't asleep either.  
  
"What's wrong?" Ellie mumbled, blinking sleepily she rested her chin on him, sleep forgotten as she looked at him.  
  
"I can't help but think..what if I grew up with Anna as my mom? Or what if I grew up with Claire in that house?" Nick frowned, feeling a little angry at himself. "Today when we were sitting in the kitchen around the island and Anna was treating me like I had been there for years..like I really was a son to her-" Nick stopped, his voice cracking at the last words.  
  
Ellie pressed a light kiss to his chest, giving him a soft smile. "You wished it was true." She said in almost a whisper. "That she really was your mom."  
  
"I just- I loved my mom, really I did-"  
  
"I know." Ellie lifted herself up, untangling their fingers to gently run them through his hair. Nick sighed, leaning into her touch without even realizing it.  
  
"She wasn't a bad mom, far from it..but she wasn't really there, and after Alejandro left she was almost cold to us. Anna and her are the complete opposite..and a part of me is jealous that Claire had that."  
  
"Sounds perfectly normal to me. There's nothing wrong with wondering and jealousy Nick, just as long as it doesn't make you bitter and mean."  
  
He nodded. "Anna asked if we wanted to come over for a movie night next weekend."  
  
Ellie grinned. "Call her tomorrow and tell her we'll be there."  
  
"Really?" Nick smiled. "You didn't get sick of Claire's craziness today?"  
  
She laughed loudly, the sound ringing throughout the room making his smile grow. "No way, Claire is awesome and so are Anna, Todd, and Jayden. And I told you Nick-" Ellie leaned forward and pressed a quick kiss to his lips. "I'm with you, for all of it. Soon enough you'll be dealing with my crazy family, it's only fair I deal with yours."  
  
Nick grinned. _His family_.  
  
In a quick move he lightly pushed Ellie back onto the bed, hovering over her and quieting her laugh with a kiss. 

* * *

  
  
  
Nick breathed in from his spot where he stood in front of all the people sitting.  
  
Today was a big day..one of the biggest days.  
  
He looked out at the large group of people and smiled.  
  
When he had quick thoughts on if he got married, he never thought of having an actual big wedding where all the family were invited..because who would he have on his side while the bride's side would most likely be full of family.  
  
But that wasn't the case now.  
  
Just like Ellie's side, his was full of people.  
  
He looked over to see Claire and Lucia whispering away until Claire looked up at him, playfully sticking her tongue out along with a thumbs up. Anna who sat on her other side, dabbed at her eyes with a tissue courtesy of Gibbs who was next to her, taking on the role of Nick's dad as his own had soon disappeared once more not long after the truth came out. Behind them were Anna and Claire's family that had morphed into his own, every last one of them smiling and genuinely happy for him and Ellie who not surprisingly they all loved too.  
  
Life was weird sometimes. He went for years being alone a majority of the time, to then having the team..and now he had a whole clan of family, as Anna liked to call them.  
  
Nick's thoughts were cut short as the music started and his heart raced with anticipation.  
  
He swore he stopped breathing as Ellie appeared in a beautiful white dress that fit her perfectly.  
  
She looked as close to an angel as someone could come and he thought it was fitting..Ellie had saved him in more ways than she'd ever know.


End file.
